


never gonna be refined

by crookedspoon



Series: Tentatodd Week 2020 [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Bottom Dick Grayson, Breathplay, Consensual Kink, Consentacles, Deepthroating, M/M, POV Dick Grayson, Sex Pollen, Sort Of, Sounding, Tumblr: Tentatodd Week, vine tentacles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:47:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23637787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crookedspoon/pseuds/crookedspoon
Summary: "Is that not how it usually goes? First we make out, then I make off with something?""We neverjustmake out. It always turns into a whole Thing.""You sound as though you're complaining." He grins. Jason's kisses are addictive. They always turn him into a kitten in heat. Ivy has immunized him to the toxins that Jason's skin secretes, but not to their aphrodisiac side effects."That's because I am."
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd
Series: Tentatodd Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1701706
Comments: 20
Kudos: 236





	never gonna be refined

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 1 "Plants & Vines" at tentatoddweek2020. 
> 
> Born out of the idea of Stray Dick and my current renewed obsession with Resident Evil. (Not sure if I should tag this with Stray Dick, though, since they're adults here.) All I wanted were some plantacles, but then the characters wanted to talk about their feelings. Ugh. Hence why I didn't get around to reading this through and editing for word choice/flow.

"I wouldn't even _think_ it if I were you."

Dick doesn't turn around. The glass door of the cooling unit in front of him has been polished to a mirror shine. 

"So you can read minds now, too?" He grins, knowing that Jason can see it from his angle. "Tell me, what do you think I'm thinking?"

Jason crosses his arms, looking so understated in his white lab coat and rimless glasses. Such a perfect disguise for a nerd like him.

"You think you're hot shit who gets away with anything," he says.

"That's just a statement of fact." Dick taps his diamond-tipped claws against the plate glass. _Tk-tk-tk-tk, tk-tk-tk-tk._ "But it's not what I'm thinking."

"I don't have time for your games. If you leave now and don't come back, I might even forget you were here in the first place."

Dick _does_ turn around at that. "You, forget me? Now, Jason, I can't have that."

He strides toward him, fully aware of how dangerous Jason is, up close. In a sterile environment like this, Dick's best chance is to stay as far away from Jason as possible. But where's the fun in that? It's harder to tease when he can't touch.

Jason's frown deepens with every step Dick takes.

"You know that's really not a bright idea."

"And why ever not? Can't I say hello to my boyfriend?"

"Oh, so now I'm your boyfriend?"

"I just said that, didn't I?"

Jason's eyes flash with annoyance, but to his credit, he doesn't so much as twitch when Dick enters his personal space. He just stands his ground like a strong, beautiful tree. Dick all but falls into his arms.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing?" he asks.

"It's called nuzzling," Dick says, rubbing his cheek against Jason's and his nose against the warm skin of his neck, without regard for what that does to him.

"I know what it's called. I want to know why you're doing it."

"Because it feels good," he whispers into Jason's ear. He's pressed so tightly against him, one hand on the back of his skull, one leg hooked over his hips, their chests flush with each other. His heart rate is already picking up, pumping heat throughout his body. If he had an actual tail, he'd be lashing it by now. "Because I wanted to know if that's makeup you're using, but it doesn't smell like it. Have you learned to regulate your skin color?"

"An old dog _can_ still learn tricks if he has to."

"God, Jason, you're--" Dick can't finish the sentence. Can't finish the thought. All he wants to do is to kiss Jason and roll his hips against him.

But Jason doesn't seem to share his enthusiasm. He just grabs Dick by the shoulders and holds him at arm's length. His latex gloves make a squeaky sound against Dick's catsuit.

"You need to leave," he says. "Now."

"Not without--" Dick tips his head back so he can throw a longing, upside-down look at the neatly labeled samples in the cooling unit. 

"Yeah, nah. Uh-uh. That's private research. You won't get a dime for it."

Without active skin contact, the hazy cloud over Dick's mind lifts a little, making it possible for him to think again. That is, to think of more than _just_ how good Jason's hard body feels against his own.

"You'd be surprised how much some people are willing to pay just to know what's going on in here," he says finally.

"Then make something up."

"Already tried it. They want proof."

"And you thought I'd just let you make off with one of my samples?"

"Yeah. I mean, is that not how it usually goes? First we make out, then I make off with something?"

"We never _just_ make out. It always turns into a whole Thing."

Dick can practically _hear_ the capital letter.

"You sound as though you're complaining." He grins. Jason's kisses are addictive. They always turn him into a kitten in heat. Ivy has immunized him to the toxins that Jason's skin secretes, but not to their aphrodisiac side effects.

"That's because I am."

That... that is unexpected. Dick's heels drop to the floor.

"What? Why? I thought you liked it, too."

"I do, but..." Jason sighs. 

Then he guides them around a desk that is carefully devoid of research notes and sits them on the cushy swivel stools. Dick likes those. They make him want to have races down the shiny length of the lab. This is not the time for that, however. 

"Look," he continues, staring at Dick's hands he has clasped in his own. "I know it's my fault you get that way--"

"No one is at fault for that, Jason," Dick cuts in.

"Don't you ever want to just... not... do something?" Jason's gaze has been flickering around the room, but now it settles on Dick. His eyes are a vibrant green, clear and cold like cut gemstones. "Or do you just come to me for the sex and whatever research you can steal?"

The accusation drops like a bomb.

"So that's it." Dick jumps up. "You're insecure."

"I'm wha--? _That's_ your takeaway?!"

"It's obvious. You want us to be able to make out just like any other couple, but you doubt that I could want that, too. I bet you even wonder if I'd have sex with you at all if I had a choice about it." Dick walks up and down, hands on his hips. "If that were the case, I could just stay an appropriate distance away from you and not touch you. Unless..."

Dick stops in his tracks and turns to Jason.

"Unless you think I'm using your condition to guilt you into giving me what I'm looking for, after you've fucked me silly."

Jason takes off his glasses and pinches the bridge of this nose. "If you want to put it that way..."

"Wow. Those are quite some things you think about me." Dick draws himself up. "Do you even know what you are?"

"I can think of quite a few things you might want to call me." He counts them off on his fingers. "'Rude' would be the nicest among them. 'An asshole'. 'The worst', maybe?"

"You're my boyfriend, Jason," Dick stops him before he escalates this any further. "Of course I want to have sex with you. And of course I'd want to just... hang out. Kiss. Unhurriedly. Without expectations or the need to turn it into more."

"There's that word again," Jason mumbles, like the cute grouch he is.

"What, sex?" Dick teases with a superior grin. "Don't tell me you're a prude, Jason. After all the things you did to me."

"That you were begging me to do to you."

"That I would beg you to do to me again," he says, bending forward until his hands are touching Jason's knees and their lips are a hair's breadth away from each other.

"You're gonna, if you keep getting in my space like that."

Even as he says that, he keeps his head where it is instead of drawing back, and his lips brush against Dick's as he speaks. Dick shivers.

"Would that be so bad?" he whispers, and this time, as Dick tries to slip onto Jason's lap, he stops him.

"I have work to do."

"Your little pet project over there?"

"My 'little pet project over there' is finding a cure for me, just FYI."

Instead of straddling Jason's lap like he'd intended, Dick sits on it with his legs off to one side. He buries his fingers into Jason's hair and curls his forehead against his neck.

"You really don't like it, do you?"

Jason wraps his arms around Dick's waist to keep him from slipping off.

"Maybe it's fun for you to come to me every once in a while and..."

"Let myself get fucked silly. You can say it."

"Yeah, sure." Jason blows out a breath. It stirs the hairs of Dick's bangs that are wedged beneath his goggles. "Thing is, I have to live with that. I can't even go outside without people turning their heads, and at work I have to keep my distance from my staff at all times."

"At least you won't get saddled with lawsuits for inappropriate closeness and non-consensual touching."

Dick draws back to smile up at Jason, who throws him an unamused look.

"I'm joking! Obviously. Geez, someone's a sourpuss tonight. I'm sure he wouldn't even accept a blowjob if I offered one."

"You'd only be offering one because--"

"Because I want to blow you. Maybe that's hard for you to imagine, but pheromones or no pheromones, I still want you. And yeah, maybe I would come see you more often if I didn't end up getting fucked into a puddle on the floor every time, but I'm still coming to see you, am I not?"

"I figured the money you make off my research would be worth..." Jason trails off.

"Getting railed?" Dick helpfully supplies, because he loves the spots of color that are rushing to Jason's head. Green color, that is. Looks like he can't concentrate enough to regulate his skin tone if he's flustered. Dick loves that.

"You and your bad mouth," Jason grumbles.

"You can shut me up any time you want to, you know. Unless you'd rather I use this bad mouth on you."

Dick prides himself on his speed, but this time, Jason is quicker. He's come to know Dick too well. Before Dick can flick his tongue over Jason's jaw, Jason is holding him out of reach. Always so careful, that man. 

"I told you. I've got to--"

"Work, yes. I know. How about you let me work you over instead? I bet you haven't given yourself a break since the last time I begged you for one."

"What's the point? All I can think about is this cure. I go stir-crazy when I'm not running simulations or trying out new formulas."

Jason scrubs a hand through his hair. It leaves tufts of it sticking up, like he'd just gotten out of bed. Even in unflattering light, Jason loses none of his attractiveness.

"Aww, does that mean you never think about me at all?"

In the years they've known each other, some things have changed a lot, while others not at all. There's a carefully blank cast to Jason's features when he pierces Dick with a direct gaze and says, "No, I don't." 

It makes him look stubborn, almost petulantly so. And it tells Dick that Jason is lying.

Just as the rest of Jason's body is telling him it is indeed very interested in Dick's offer from before. It's almost straining toward Dick, needing the comfort of touch but not allowing itself to accept that at the same time.

Dick heaves a mental sigh. Jason always tries to be so strong, like he can handle everything on his own - and Dick has no doubt that he can, but in the long run it's often better to give yourself what you need.

Dick is all about giving Jason what he needs, so he slips to his knees. Jason's legs splay open at the slightest touch, and there's no mistaking that he wants this as much as Dick does.

"Wait," he says as Dick's hand slides inexorably forward. 

"Don't want it?" Dick asks with his best pleading face.

"I do, but... _fuck._ You know I'm not safe."

"Isn't that part of the fun?"

"Don't joke."

"I'm serious."

"Well, so am I. There's no way for you _not_ to get exposed to me when we're this close, even if we take precautions."

"So, what are you suggesting?"

"I want to try something. No kissing and no direct skin contact - think you can do that?"

"I'm in a full bodysuit, Jason." Dick gestures to himself. He's zipped up to his neckline. "There's not much skin you can touch."

"Your mouth is the most dangerous part about you, anyway."

"Glad you agree." Dick's eyelids lower as his mouth stretches into a grin. "How about a demonstration?"

Jason's tongue flicks out and it takes all of Dick's self-restraint for him to not surge forward and capture those pretty lips with his own. No kissing, he said. Dick can do that.

"Let's go to the greenhouse," Jason says finally. "Fewer cameras there."

This should be the moment for Dick to run, if he had any sense at all.

"So you can tie me up again?" he asks instead.

The edges of Jason's lips curl into a smirk. "Only if you want to."

"Oh, I want to. Lead the way."

Before they make their way downstairs, Jason slips into his office and switches off the surveillance in the greenhouse for a little bit of privacy. Idly, Dick wonders how many of their encounters he has got on tape. And if there are copies. His own recollection only extends so far. By the time he started begging Jason to be filled, that was all he could think about. So naturally his memories are hazy. And full of holes, much like his catsuit after such an encounter.

There's a bench near the entrance of the greenhouse, shaded by a canopy of foliage that gives this corner a secluded feeling.

Dick shoves Jason onto it and crouches down between his legs. Jason takes off his latex gloves and snaps on a fresh pair, only to press his index finger against Dick's lips when he leans in too close.

He sucks the finger into his mouth. A startled moan escapes Jason's lips, but then he slides his finger deeper, forward and back, and it's Dick's turn to moan. That, combined with the waxy sensation of his other fingers rubbing against his jaw sets Dick's blood on fire.

With his free hand, Jason produces a condom wrapper from his lab coat pocket. Dick rocks against his cup. He gets so hard just _thinking_ about Jason being prepared for him. There's no doubt in his mind that Jason is prepared for him alone; he's too much of a workaholic to make time for anyone else. And besides, the way he talks about the downsides of his condition, he's not making use of it to get laid.

That leaves Dick the lucky recipient of all of Jason's pent-up desire. He could come from that knowledge alone.

Dick's attention snaps back as Jason pops the button of his jeans and peels back the fabric to free his gorgeous cock. 

Just as he thinks Jason is pulling his finger out of his mouth so he can use both hands to roll the condom onto himself, Jason slides another finger between his lips and fucks his mouth with it. Dick moans against the slicked-up glove that's rubbing over his tongue. He wants Jason to touch him with it, to curl his wet fingers around his cock and jerk him to completion.

Dick grips the fabric at Jason's knees the moment he sees dark tendrils extend from the greenery behind Jason. They rip open the foil package, and Dick's hips roll again, rocking against nothing, to watch them take out the condom and pulling it over Jason's cock.

Leisurely, Jason encircles the base of his cock with his fingers, to keep the condom in place and to shield his skin from Dick's greedy mouth. Because greedy it is, and ready to worship that cock to boot. He's begun sucking Jason's fingers as if they were his cock, he's so ready for it.

He almost doesn't notice when Jason wants to finally extract his fingers. Jason has to tug his wrist free that Dick had been holding with his both hands.

Dick reverently places his palms on top of Jason's other hand now, forming a black ring around his cock. Jason doesn't even appear bothered by Dick's sharp claws.

Dick nuzzles Jason's condom-wrapped length and sighs, somewhere between happy and just a little disappointed.

"It's not even flavored," he says but runs his tongue against it anyway.

Not that the taste matters when Jason is this hard for him. He gives the underside of his cock a few more licks, then rips his goggles off so he can tug down his cowl. He's so hot beneath his suit that even his scalp is sweating, and a part of him hopes that Jason will see this as an invitation to play with his hair.

Dick sucks the head of Jason's cock in his mouth and relaxes a bit, shoving a contented sigh out through his nose. Jason feels so good inside him and Dick just loves sucking him off. He could do it all day - if Jason weren't so antsy to get back to his job, and, well, if his own jaw weren't complaining so quickly.

He takes him deeper, keeping his mouth soft and wet, the way Jason likes it. His deep-seated moans only egg Dick on to go further, and when Jason brushes Dick's sweaty bangs out of his eyes, Dick can't suppress a moan himself. His unfocused gaze flicks up and once it locks on Jason's, Dick takes him in his throat.

Jason murmurs something that sounds like praise and rakes his fingers through Dick's hair. Dick moans again, eyelids fluttering, and Jason lifts his other hand to Dick's face. He caresses Dick's cheek before he grips the back of Dick's head to hold it in place. Dick's nose is pressed against his own gloves and he could probably go just a little deeper if he took his hands away from the base of Jason's cock but then his nose might bump against Jason's skin and they both don't want that.

This whole no skin contact deal is a lot more difficult to achieve than he thought.

Dick pulls off with a quiet gasp when the pressure at the back of his head abates, but only for long enough to fill his lungs with air. He wraps his lips around the head of Jason's cock again almost immediately, breathing through his nose. The air inside the greenhouse is heavy with moisture and it makes Dick light-headed.

This time, instead of holding Dick's head down, Jason guides him along his length, up and down, up and down, until it's only down, down, down, using Dick's head to fuck himself on it. Dick's throat squelches as Jason penetrates it over and over, and Dick feels a sob rising in his chest because he's so hard his own cock might rip a hole in his suit.

Tears are leaking down his cheeks when Jason pulls him off. His vision is hazy and he's panting like a dog. Jason's thumb slides over Dick's spit-slick lips.

"It's so hard not to kiss you right now," he says.

"Fuck me," Dick says, voice shot.

Using Jason's knees for support, he pushes himself to his feet. His knees are wobbly and difficult to straighten, so it takes a moment for Dick to open the zipper at his crotch. It also takes a moment for him to realize that vines have slithered around his body and his arms and legs to stabilize him. A pulse of arousal rushes through him so powerful it nearly knocks his knees over. Thankfully, the vines Jason controls are there to catch him.

Dick all but crashes onto Jason's thighs, then scoots his hips back to rub his ass against Jason's hard length. The hard length he needs inside him so bad.

But Jason has to stop him from even doing that. A strong hand is digging into Dick's left ass cheek and pulling it aside. Dick hisses when something wet and cool touches his hole. He could have taken Jason without the lube. His cock is wet enough. Yet despite his impatience to have Jason ram his cock inside him already, he's also touched that Jason takes the time to take care of him.

That is, until he notices something odd about the lube.

"Fuck, Jason, what are you rubbing into me?"

"Ginger essence." That fucker has the audacity to sound amused.

"It burns."

"That's the point."

Dick tries to writhe away, but can't. Jason's vines are too strong. "You're so evil."

"It'll help you relax."

Dick groans, letting his head hang forward. This is worse than a dry fuck. This is a sting that makes his skin prickle with sweat and his ass clench around Jason's fingers, which only intensifies the hot sensation.

To make matters worse, his cock is still trapped inside his suit. It takes a bit of maneuvering to pull his fully engorged cock free, even when Jason is not fucking him with his fingers. That just makes everything more difficult. 

Fuck, but this... this actually feels good. The friction takes his mind off the sting.

"Jason, please. I need your cock."

There's no protest or quip from Jason's side, which is a relief. Not that Dick would have been able to understand any teasing remarks right now.

He grunts as Jason's fingers pull out. He feels so empty without them and he tries to push back against Jason's cock, urging him to put it in already. But those stupid vines stop him.

In fact, they slither into the opening of Dick's crotch and a violent shiver grips Dick's spine. The last time Jason fucked him with them, Dick couldn't move for a week without feeling them stretching him deep. He'd needed his biggest plug inside him at all times just to ease the gaping emptiness he felt on an emotional level. All he wanted was to make love with Jason, slow and sweet, and it was torture not to go see him, but he knew that if he did, they'd just end up ravaging each other again and it would leave him even emptier than before. (Well, and before that they'd have had an argument about Dick stealing from him, which he wasn't ready for either.)

As mind-blowing as their sex can be, Dick understands Jason's drive to find a cure. Even if it might change their entire dynamic.

Dick can't think about that now. He's trembling in anticipation, but instead of wiggling inside his hole, the vines tear his suit apart. Dick gasps as his cock suddenly is no longer confined. He feels little creepers winding their way up his length and pushing his jockstrap aside. His cup thuds to the ground.

"Fuck, Jason."

"Getting there."

Jason's cock is hot and thick as it nudges Dick's hole and Dick's mouth falls open as the head slowly sinks inside. Jason's cock stretches him more than his fingers did and Dick is going cross-eyed from the raw pleasure of it all. He's wriggling against Jason, trying to take him deeper faster because only his cock can scratch the itch that he feels.

Dick's breathing is coming harsh and loud as he notices the thin vines strangling the base of his cock and winding around his balls. They're squeezing tighter, until it's bordering on painful and Dick tries so hard to concentrate on each individual breath to stave off the panic. He knows Jason would never hurt him, but just knowing that he could has Dick's heart beating faster. It's a rush like no other.

Jason's vines are keeping Dick's thighs spread apart and his elbows threaded just above his head, as if Jason were obstructing himself from kissing Dick's neck. Instead, he rests his head between Dick's shoulder blades as he eases himself deeper into Dick with shallow thrusts.

It's maddening. Dick feels like a marionette every time Jason manhandles him like this, immobilizing him with his vines and taking his pleasure from his body, but at the same time, he couldn't be harder. There's something about the loss of control that he craves, and he trusts Jason enough to surrender to it.

Just then, as his mind reaches a state of calm and quiet amid the frenzy, the creeper that has crested the head of his cock plunges into his peehole.

Dick cries out and his back arches.

"Easy," Jason says, stroking Dick's sides. "Just relax."

"You try," Dick moans, "when you're fucked from every side."

"Not _every_ side," Jason corrects as a thick vine waves in front of Dick's face.

"Oh God," he moans again, and he might have come if his balls weren't being squeezed snugly or his urethra stoppered. "Fuck, Jason, I love you."

"Strange time to be admitting that."

"The best time. Fuck, please, don't stop because I said that. I need you. I need you so deep. Please. Fuck me within an inch of my life."

"Fuck, Dick. You sound even more adamant than usual." Jason's hand slides around Dick's chest to curl lightly at the base of Dick's throat. "You need to let me draw your blood later, so I can check its toxicity levels."

"You're thinking about doing science _now?"_ Dick nearly screeches, incredulous.

"It's never one without the other." He feels Jason kiss the top of his shoulder. "Either I'm thinking of science as I'm doing you, or I'm thinking of you as I'm doing science."

"I thought you didn't think of me when I'm not around."

"Well, I lied."

"I knew it."

Jason hasn't stopped moving his hips throughout the exchange, but he was going too slow for Dick's liking. Dick uses what leverage he has to rock himself on Jason's hard length.

"Can we-- can we continue this talk later? You can poke me will all the needles you want, but first I need you to fuck my lights out. There'll be no needle-poking while I'm conscious, got it?"

"Got it."

The hand at Dick's throat tightens for a moment, letting him memorize the feel of each finger as it presses into his skin, then relaxes again. Dick nods against it.

"Yeah. Fuck yeah, do it," he says.

The next instant, Dick is lifted off Jason's thighs and off his cock. Dick whines as it pops free. That's not what he wanted at all.

"Shhh," Jason shushes him as he drapes himself against Dick and rubs his cock against Dick's waiting hole. "I'm right here. I got you."

Grabbing Dick's hips, Jason knocks the breath right out of Dick's lungs as he thrusts himself all the way inside. He pulls back and slides deep again. The friction is so delicious it makes Dick's thighs tremble, and it soothes the sting inside his gut. Dick can hardly decide what to concentrate on. Jason fucking his ass with his gorgeous cock, or Jason stretching his urethra with the plantlife he controls. It's all so good it's driving Dick to distraction. He's twitching in his bonds.

A part of Dick wants to complain about the pace Jason is setting, because it's nowhere near brutal enough to put Dick out of commission for a while, but then Jason hits his prostate dead-on and all his protests die in a strangled moan.

His head tips back as far as it can and in that moment, the vine that has been wavering by his head, as if waiting for its opportunity to strike, slithers between his lips. Dick moans and writhes against his bonds, glad to finally have something to suck on, even if the taste is bitter. He needs something to do with his mouth, after all, and if that something is not kissing Jason, it might as well be this.

His cock is pulsing with each of Jason's thrusts. Fuck, he's so hot, he's gonna come soon.

When Jason squeezes the arteries on either side of his neck, Dick gives in completely. The vines in his mouth breaches his throat and cuts off his air supply, but it's exactly what he needs. To be bound and choked and fucked within an inch of his life. 

.

Dick opens his eyes with a gasp, as if he had only just remembered to breathe again. The white ceiling startles him into searching his memory for a clue as to where he is and why.

He's on a hospital bed. In Jason's lab. Throwing back the blanket reveals that his suit is artfully torn. As he suspected. Jason fucked him so good he passed out. That's why he has a headache now and everything hurts. Even his urethra. 

A pleasant shiver runs down his spine and he smiles. Jason continues to spoil him every time.

Think of the devil and he shall appear with a glass of water and painkillers in tow. Dick can plan whatever heist he may, he won't land a better catch than Jason.

"How are you feeling?" Jason asks. His skin is flesh-colored again.

"Fine, I guess." Dick rubs his arm, only to feel a bandaid in the crease of his elbow. "Did you--?"

"Yeah. I'm already running tests," Jason says as he hands the glass of water over. "Was I... was I too rough?"

Dick looks up from taking a sip, a little surprised by the question, and shakes his head. "You were perfect. You could have been rougher, even."

"So, I wasn't perfect."

"You definitely, definitely were. I'm just saying. You can be rougher next time. If you want to, that is. To make it even perfecter."

Jason snorts. "There's no such thing than more than perfect."

"I disagree. Sex with you is perfect no matter the limitations we have to work with. Now imagine how much better it could be without those limitations."

"Suppose the sex we have _is_ perfect and suppose that it's our limitations that make it so. Wouldn't it follow that without those limitations, our sex would no longer be perfect?"

Dick makes a face. "Please don't logic your way out of a compliment."

"Oh, that was supposed to be a compliment?" Jason acts all fake surprised. "In that case, thank you. You were not so bad yourself."

"Yeah, yeah, spare me." Dick waves him off and takes another sip of water. He motions for Jason to take the glass again and rolls back down onto his back. And groans.

"Sure you're okay?" Jason asks, placing the glass off to the side.

"Sure I'm sure. I just need a little R&R and then I'll be good as new."

Dick forms the OK sign with his hand and watches Jason sit down onto the bed through the circle made by this thumb and index finger.

A smile tugs at Jason's lips and something in Dick's brain sparks like a blowing fuse.

"What?" he asks.

"Nothing," Jason says, with that same secretive smile.

"Kiss me."

Jason blinks and looks at Dick askance. "That's not advisa--"

"Kiss me." Dick tugs at Jason's sleeve. "You can't start my engine again if that's what you're worried about."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Less arguing, more kissing, please."

Dick gets his hands into more of Jason's sleeve and pulls him down on top of him. There's a warmth and solidity to Jason - despite being half plant (or whatever the percentage is) - that he deeply enjoys.

Their kiss is unhurried and gentle, and all the things Dick has ever wanted from a kiss.

And yet it's making him hot just to have Jason lying on top of him. Despite being utterly exhausted with limbs made of dried glue instead of bone, he wants to wind his legs around Jason's hips and grind against him.

"Okay," he mumbles into the kiss, "so maybe I was wrong."

"Told you."

"Though I can't tell if it's just you that's making me hot or your toxins, you know? I propose we do some more testing."

Jason huffs. "Get some more R&R. I'll see if I can scrounge up something to eat."

"Sounds good."

Without Jason's reassuring weight on top of him, Dick feels cold. He sighs as he gets up and throws on a lab coat to cover his naked ass. It's unlikely someone else is about at this time of night, but Dick also doesn't need to flaunt his assets on camera and call attention to himself. Already he's trying to figure out how to get home unseen. He should store some clothing items in a locker somewhere, just in case.

Moving along the tables and beds and anything else to help prop him up, Dick makes his way to Jason's office on unsteady legs. The key card he's swiped while they were kissing grants him access. At the back, there's a small cooled storage room where Jason keeps samples of his blood and saliva that he uses for testing.

In the past, he's been after those for their mass market potential. If a safe aphrodisiac could be synthesized from the samples, Dick and his employer could strike it rich. 

Dick still wants the money, of course, but what he also wants is for Jason to find a cure. So far, he and Ivy are the only ones looking for it and they're doing it on their own time.

What Dick is doing may be underhanded, but with his connections, he can find them more people _and_ more resources to help their research.

Jason is going to feel betrayed. He might even hate Dick for stealing the samples, but it's not like he can't easily make new ones.

This is something that Dick has to do. For himself and for Jason. For their future together. Whatever that may be. And if Jason can't see that now, Dick can only hope he will do so in time.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Evolution" by Korn.


End file.
